As a service provider uses Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) based technology to develop a converged voice and data services portfolio, multiple IMS core networks are being built to support this goal. IMS standards support interworking between IMS core networks and provide specifications for accessing a service application via any of the IMS core networks. However, the IMS standards do not address the need for a service provider to be able to use common resources to support multiple applications running in parallel that are provided by different IMS core networks.
For example, whenever a mobile endpoint device needs to setup a service request (e.g., a voice call), a data channel, such as a General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol (GTP) tunnel, is setup in the mobile access network to signal non-call associated information, requests, or queries. Each data channel supports only one signaling flow, e.g., only one Packet Data Protocol (PDP) context is supported per GTP tunnel. Therefore, when a different type of service (e.g., a video session) is requested by the same mobile endpoint device, another data channel has to be setup to signal the new service session. The setup of each data channel can take 10 or more seconds and the approach does not allow the sharing of network resources in the mobile access network.